DEVELOPMENT DIARY - WINTER IS COMING

We haven’t had a Dev Diary in a while. It’s been a busy few months getting the game out, working on the patches followed by the updates and, thus, getting a bit of time to sit down and collect my thoughts in a post has been a challenge. Luckily, with the updates released and the team enjoying a couple of weeks much deserved rest, we’re all back and raring to go so it’s a perfect time to fill you in on what’s been going on and what we’re doing over the coming weeks as autumn drifts into winter.

In October we took the game to the 50th Volvo World Matchplay Championship at the London Golf Club in Kent as the Official Video Game of the tournament. I was lucky enough to go over and be the representative for the game. It was great meeting in person some of the early adopters of The Golf Club, people that loved the game and thanked us for making something they’d wanted in a golf game for years. It was also great meeting with people who were seeing it for the first time, liking the difficulty compared to what they’ve been used to over the years and being genuinely impressed with the course creator and the courses that the community have created.

Seeing the game on the advertising boards around the greens and the video trailer on the electronic scoreboards scattered around the course made my heart beat a little quicker. We’re evolving a great, great game, in my opinion, and seeing it being pushed at events like this really brings it home.

After the tournament we took a couple of weeks off to recharge the batteries and just sit and play the game as users rather than developers before starting work on Update 2. Coming back this week and looking at everyone fresh and eager really feels like starting a new project. Very inspiring from my point of view and something that can only have a huge benefit on the game and in turn on your individual experiences with it.

The big feature we’re working on for Update 2 will be the Handicap System, it’s something that we’ve talked about from the very beginning and something that makes Golf a unique sport in real life. We’re focused on making the game competitive even if there is a big ability gap between players. We’re very keen on seeing what you guys want from this system as well so Lorin started a thread a couple of days ago on the forum here if you want to join in. We’ve found the community has provided a wealth of knowledge and valuable suggestions since the Closed Beta and want to continue to work with the TGC members to take the game to the next level.

We will also have a new theme coming with the update, we’ve not decided which one yet, but there definitely will be one. We’re also looking at adding a new mode of play, which we’ll reveal over the next few weeks. We’ll also have loads of little tweaks and improvements that will enhance the gameplay and experience on the virtual course. It’s an exciting time and thanks for continuing to stick with us.